The Mustang is among those rare vehicles that are integrated into a
country's identity and folklore. It is one of the few that can be
identified by pretty much everyone, not just car enthusiasts. It is so
engrained in our psyches that just the name "Mustang" conjures images of
neon diners, snarling cars flying through the air, and the sound of
booming V8s echoing through the night. It is also one of the few iconic
cars that is actually affordable to the common man. It is not like
Ferrari in Italy where everyone has their merchandise but nobody can buy
the actual car. Everyone knows someone with a Mustang, and even the
previous generations haven't been hit with classic car inflation like
many muscle cars. Almost anyone can pretend to be Steve McQueen.

So when I was browsing through the car rental site for my upcoming trip
with my wife to Phoenix, which would include a blast through the desert
and up the mountains into Sedona, there was only once choice that made
any type of sense, a Mustang Convertible. Compared to a Nissan Altima
or Chevy Malibu picking the Mustang seems obvious, but for a car guy
there is still some trepidation. It is a "secretary special" V6 version
after all. For a car forged in the era of big displacement V8s the V6
versions have a stigma as being soft wannabes. A car for poseurs who
want the look but can't afford the real deal. So as the shiny Oxford
White 2013 Mustang rolled up to the rental counter I could feel the
envious glances of the sad sacks packing their kids into the Hyundai
Accents they foolishly wasted their money on. But I wasn't as giddy as I
thought I would be and could thank years of people looking down their
noses at these cars for that. Thankfully over the next few days and
several hundred miles driving this thing this "Hero car" as Clarkson put
it would change my mind.

Thankfully Ford has really turned their game around over the past couple
years, even within this 5th generation of their most iconic car whose
production started almost 50 years ago. In 2010 the exterior of the
S197 mustang was significantly refreshed, but it still had the 4.0L SOHC
V6 which made a depressing 210 Hp. The car's handling was as
underwhelming as its engine. Thankfully in 2011 Ford updated the
suspension, added an LSD, and installed a DOHC aluminum 3.7L V6 which
makes 305 Hp and 280 lb-ft of torque. To put that into perspective,
that is more horsepower than any of the "non-special edition" Mustang
V8s up to this point. Even the legendary 5.0 from the Fox body
generation only broke 300Hp after some aftermarket massaging. This is
no longer the neglected step brother of old, like the SN-95 V6 Mustang
whose horrid wheel gap and overbite front bumper made it look like a
totally different car when placed next to a Terminator.
I was thankful for the beefier engine, since straight line acceleration
is one of the classic Mustang attributes. The car wasn't a rocket
around town but had plenty of pick-up to drive aggressively. Some of
the missed potential may be due to the transmission which never wanted
to go over three grand unless I was on a freeway on ramp. There is a
"sport" mode which made no discernable difference. Oddly the manual
gear selection is done with a button on the side of the shift lever.
Most manual shifting autos at least try to imitate some type of manual
action to simulate the fun part of manual driving, often by pushing the
shifter up or down or using F1 style paddle shifters which would be out
of place on a Mustang. Those buttons made it as fun as turning on your
rear defroster, that is if they actually worked. My guess is they turn
sport mode and manual shifting off for rental cars to protect them from
hooners which is understandable but disappointing. The throaty V8
burble that is the Mustang trademark is absent but the engine doesn't
sound bad, you can tell it was toned down for the broader customer base
of the V6. An aftermarket exhaust would fix that.
not my photo

The first night we went to the "Los Wild Nights" Hot Rod show and Pinup
contest. Not wanting to be "that guy" I parked past where the pavement
ended next to some regular commuter cars. There were some beautiful
cars there, mostly hotrods. It was cool go to a car show associated
with that so-cal rockabilly/kustom scene which isn't as present in
Detroit. I always liked reading the "Car Kulture Delux" magazines since
I was in high school, and low Detroit iron from the first half of the
last century with a Mexican blanket over the seats normally captures my
attention more than a modern exotic. Most of the people there wore
black car club T-shirts and were heavily tatted, and it was a friendly
and diverse crowd. One of the few places you'll see someone with a
Mohawk drinking beers with a James Dean look-alike.

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Of course many of the cars had interesting back stories. A particularly
well done hotrod was started over 50 years ago by the owners father and
grandfather. It was recently finished, only a month before his
grandfather passed. Unlike many situations like this where the car is
completed posthumously, his grandfather actually got to see and drive it
before he departed. An example of how cars can be so much more than
machines or modes of transportation. This is a breathing piece of art
that created memories and brought family together.

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We left the parking lot to the walled off courtyard for the concert and
pin-up show. The outdoor furniture there seemed way too classy for the
strip club that the courtyard was attached too. Several beautiful
ladies with colorful dresses and equally colorful tattoos graced the
stage for the contest. I stupidly left my camera in the car by this
point. Most were from the group pinup angels which raises money for the
troops overseas, you can check out their website here: http://www.thepinupangels.com/pinupangelshom…
They seemed like a fun group of gals, but I was glad I already had my
own pinup to take home. Afterward several rockabilly bands took the
stage and got the place moving. It was a good crowd and everyone was
enjoying themselves. The whole greaser, Kustom scene may seem odd to
some people but these different subcultures make being a car enthusiast
fun. We are passionate about same thing, and its expressed in ways as
diverse as we are.

The current mustang also does a fantastic job of combining the old with
the new and is one of the best retro-inspired designs currently out
there. It is instantly recognizable as a Mustang both in the details
like the tail-lights and the rear fender crease as well as it's overall
"attitude". However it doesn't seem derivative at all, it stands on its
own as a very good looking modern car design. This is especially true
after the 2010 refresh which for the exterior was more of a revolution.
The clunkiness carried over from the third and fourth generation was
gone and the lines and details were polished. The panel gaps closed and
the surfacing became more refined. It no longer seems like Ford is
chasing the Europeans as far as exterior fit and finish and design
sophistication. It also does the DRL and accent lighting right. While
Lexus has chinzy LEDs that look like they could've been bought at pep
boys, the red glow of the taillight trim and white headlight bars are
subtle and actually look good. While the V8 version is brutishly
handsome the V6 looks like a welterweight, no longer a 98 pound
weakling.

The next morning we started off on our trip to Sedona. The two
convertibles I've owned previously (69' Midget and 90' Miata) are of
different eras when it comes to top design. On the Mustang you have to
undo two levers up front and push a button and it retracts
automatically. It works great, and the top is well insulated and has
real glass in the back. There is no automatic convertible top cover
that conceals the folded top like many modern European cars have, and it
doesn't need it. It's a convertible mustang for christsakes, its not
that pretentious. Feeling the warm morning Phoenix sun cruising under a
canopy of palm trees the Mustang felt like the perfect place to be.

Not my pic

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We blasted out of Phoenix down Highway 60 where I had some time to take
stock of the interior. I was slightly put off by the large flat plastic
panel in which the last generation Ford switchgear is nestled but
quickly got used to it. The previous Mustang I drove was an SN-95 (4th
gen) who's interior felt like being in a plastic blow molded playhouse
and had a shifter throw about a foot long. This interior is miles from
that but could use a refresh to catch up with Ford's new offerings. The
panel gaps near the bottom of the IP were big enough that it looks like
it would flip open to reveal an ashtray. And there oddly isn't a real
place to rest your right elbow on the center console, just a square of
plastic that is softer than the surrounding panels. An actual arm-rest
would've been nice for long cruises. The gage cluster is obviously
inspired by the classic mustangs with its deep hooded speedo and tach
which look really good. A screen in between the binnacles lets you pull
from a surprisingly deep well of information, showing info like intake
and trans temp as well as the standard MPG and range. It has all the
bells and whistles you could ask for and despite my niggling gripes, was
a nice place to be. It felt good holding the leather wrapped steering
wheel, looking up from the jewel like gages and seeing the long hood
pointing straight towards the horizon.

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As we turned onto 89 and headed up the mountain the tall saguaro cacti
turned into brambly trees. The temperature dropped 10 degrees and the
grass turned a ghostly yellow. The Mustang had plenty of passing power,
even going uphill. It also felt surprisingly good road holding wise.
This would come in handy because once we got into the mountains we'd hit
the best road I've ever driven on. Highway 89 is a two lane road that
takes you up 4000 feet into the mountains. There are too many curves
to count, most of them banked, and literally cling to the side of the
mountain often with a deadly drop just past the guardrail. The scenery
looks down into the valley and is breathtaking, although you rarely have
enough time in between turns to look. It was here I found the biggest
surprise about the new Mustang, it is actually fun in the curves.

I had a blast flying from turn to turn. The Mustang feels surprisingly
neutral with little body roll. The seats run out of bolstering before
the car felt like its going to start leaning. During the drive we
passed a couple Dodge Avengers poking along cautiously. I had
flashbacks to driving one to big Sky Montana and how terrifying it was.
The avenger had tons of body roll, and its weight would shift suddenly
and unpredictably. Awful handling combined with zero feedback made it
horrific to drive up that mountain. I felt lucky to have a capable
partner in the Mustang. The only part that didn't want to play was the
transmission, which found the highest possible gear and stayed there. I
put it in sport mode and tapped frantically at the shift button but it
was futile. The engine lolled lazily under 2000 RPM while the rest of
the car hustled around the bends. There was torque on hand but not
enough to fully exploit the situation. If the car was a manual it would
have been perfect.

On the downhill portions, gravity was a much stronger motivator than the
power train. It was here that I really appreciated the brakes. They
were linear and strong, no evidence of fade even though they were
working hard. In a lesser car this road would seem treacherous,
constant blind turns, craggy rocks on one side, sheer cliffs on the
other. Some of the turns are banked so much you can feel oncoming
trucks leaning over you. But the Mustang inspires confidence and you
are encouraged to keep pushing it. The lazy transmission and my wife
giving me the "look" kept me from really wringing it out. The V6 felt
like it had plenty of power in this situation, while the 400+ hp of the
GT would increase the potential for loosing control and shortly after,
dismemberment. I may have been having a "size of the ship vs. motion of
the ocean" moment, but I was having too much fun to care.

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We had lunch in Prescott and took another break in Jerome. It seems
like the only buildings in Phoenix are under 20 years old and are
attached to strip malls, so it was nice to see some actual historical
buildings in Arizona. Both towns were fairly touristy, with lots of
shops selling turquoise jewelry and Indian "artifacts" but we were glad
to have checked them out. Jerome was particularly neat, an old mining
town built into the side of the mountain. We stopped at the Merkin wine
store, whose name means "pubic wig". This would be odd if it wasn't
owned by the singer from Tool. There were a lot of nice cars in Jerome,
and plenty of bikes, people stopping after enjoying the drive.

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On the final stretch into Sedona my thoughts turned to actually buying
one of these. There were many nice cars out that day, and I did some
daydreaming about how the drive would've been in my Miata or my old M5,
but there is something that just feels right about driving a Mustang
through the desert, with actual mustangs running free through the
scenery alongside you. Its big nose sucking in the dry air, the
surprisingly colorful landscape flying past. It obviously would be at
home on Woodward Ave. but the athleticism in the mountains convinced me
it would fit in anywhere. There are a lot of cars that would've been
faster and more fun on Highway 89 but not many that have over 300 Hp,
start in the low $20s and look as iconic.

That night we drove up a hill by the airport where we could watch the
sun set across the alien landscape of red cliffs and plateaus.
Situations like this give you a sense of your place in the world.
People awkwardly held tablets to record the natural light show on a
landscape that took eons to create, you think about the people that
stood gawking in the same spot back before the words Arizona, America,
or the English language even existed.

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In the comparatively minute sliver of time the automobile has existed
there are only a handful of vehicles that have been built across actual
human generations. That can possess a rich history full of stories and
traditions to draw from. You can drive a car your grandfather owned and
buy a modern version that exists for the same purpose and has the same
mystique that drew him in decades ago. The Mustang is one of those
vehicles. Through most of my adult life the only new Mustangs that
caught my attention were the high dollar special editions, the
Terminators or Shelby versions. Finally the base versions of the
Mustang fully possess the spirit of the original; a great looking, fast,
affordable muscle car. One I dreamt of purchasing to carry out those
Mustang traditions, which include burning some rubber just like Grandpa
used to do.